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Taking a Bali Dog to Germany

25-11-17, 21:00

I've been thinking a lot, if it's worth writing about the adventure of taking our dog "Blacky" from Bali all the way to Germany. The first thing we did when the idea of going on this big trip formed, was scouring the interwebs in hope for some information.
Most helpful for us were the forums, were like minded people posted how they'd organized everything. I'll try to keep some structure in this post, talking about organizing, money and finally the trip itsself.

1.) The hassle of getting proper information

We started out very clueless! I came to Bali for the 4th time for work, this stay would be 8 months long and our dog was about 1 year old by then. After those eight months we would both leave Bali and we both agreed that leaving Blacky wouldn't really be a option. We heard from other dog owners, that "exporting" dogs overseas was possible, so started looking into how.

To get a better overview, what we were going to need for the dog transfer, I checked the German customs website. They have a lot of links there. For anyone looking into getting a dog into the European Union (EU) this was the most helpful. Secondly I emailed the German customs, which just confirmed all the information on the EU website.
This is the list we followed, directly from the German customs and in that order:

So, how are we going to do this... First stop was the good old internet. We were overwhelmed quickly by all the information that was around.
There were three options, as it seemed:
- Let some person organize everything
- Let an organisation take over
- Arrange everything ourselves

We spent hours emailing different people and calling up any number we could find. The suggested prices (as it does happen in Bali) were very different.
- vet #1: around 50 Million IDR (approx. 3000) for everything
- vet #2: 32 Million IDR (approx. 2000) without the rabies test (6 Million IDR extra)/flight ticket
- Groovy Pet Transport: 9.145 Million IDR (approx. 570) without rabies test/flight ticket/transport from Bali to Jakarta
- Some person: around 20 Million IDR (approx. 1250) including everything

At this time we found out that apparently no airline is taking dogs straight from Bali, but from Jakarta. Later it turned out, that there seem to be "possibilities" here as well, but it would've been even more complicated at this point. The extreme fluctuations in price also made it seem as if there are definitely cheaper ways to organize this. Pretty quickly we decided to do it ourselves, which turned out to be the right decision and thecheaper one as well.

So, first thing the chip and the vaccination. We got ours here: Anom Vet Service, Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai No. 98X Blok C, Bali 80222
- microchip 500k IDR (approx. 30)
- vaccination 150k IDR (approx. 10)
Additional we got a microchip certificate. Not that it's necessary, but a nice addition and the chip was compatible with the requirements on the EUs website. Also, good to have a paper that states when the chip was implanted.

After waiting for 30 days, back to the vet for taking the blood. Anom Vet Service wanted 1.2 Million IDR (approx. 75) for that, which seemed way over the top. All they need to do is take blood and spin it down in a centrifuge for 20 mins.
We went here and they seemed more reasonable: Dr.Listriani & Associate, Jl. Tukad Balian No.170, Renon, Bali 80227
- Blood sample incl. preparation of the serum: 220k IDR (approx. 14)

The serum needs to be analyzed in one of the "approved laboratories". There's a list of those here. I emailed the ones in Germany and went with "Eurovir Hygiene Labor". They were super helpful and priced reasonably at 65. Now, getting the serum there, you have two possibilities: 1) Send it from Bali or 2) Get it there yourself or through friends.
We bought a cheap lock&lock container and some ice packs (in ACE) and followed the instructions from the lab. Basically you have to seal the envelope with the rabies serology request and declare that no one tampered with the sample during the trip. We gave the whole thing to a friend, who took it to Germany and sent it to the lab by normal post. If you have more questions regarding this part (the stability of the serum, how to pack it, getting blood through customs, etc.), just PM me
A few days later, I got the preliminary results as email and the original was sent to my German address. Now, you got to get this paper as original back to Indonesia...Again we used the friends who were going on holiday in Bali, saving a lot of postage costs.

For the flight, you need a kennel that conforms to IATA standards. We found ours by pure luck in ACE Hardware, a little rusty for 1 Million IDR (approx. 70). This was certainly quite lucky, as Groovy Pet Transport sold theirs for 2.7 Million IDR. It might be easier to get this in Java as well.

During the 30 days waiting, we tried to find someone how gets the dog from Bali to Jakarta. Up to this day, I'm not sure, if it's actually allowed to transport the dogs out of Bali. The prices suggested here, were less variable.
- Transport by car (3 day trip): 13kg dog 3 Million IDR
- Organization of health certificate and export permit: 2.8 Million IDR
- In total it was 5.8 Million IDR (approx. 360) for her size.

There seem to be options using airlines or trains as well. This was certainly the most difficult part of it all and it took us months to find someone, who we were kind of ok with. The dogs here, were put in quite small cages and he wouldn't take Blacky inside her kennel, so we had to ship that extra to Jakarta (840k IDR, approx. 50). The treatment of the dogs seemed ok, no owners were allowed to take part in the trip and as soon as he had his money, he seemed annoyed by any questions we had considering the health of our dog. In the end, she made the trip and didn't seem to have any trauma though. It certainly broke our hearts to see her in this small cage, but we knew she'd be going to a safe place soon.

For the flight we chose KLM, as we heard good things from many people about them. The ticket was also priced well at 200 (400, if the layover in Amsterdam is longer than 2 hours). Once we had the ticket, I called up to make a reservation for Blacky and paid by credit card. This part was easy...

3.) The trip
We dropped Blacky off one day before the transfer to Jakarta, as requested by the driver. She spent one night in a kennel in Bali and was then loaded onto the car the next day. The dar surely had more than one dog or cat on it, but at least they separated the cages with cardboard and the van was airconditioned. Supposedly, they would take the animals out of the cages in the morning and evening, but we had no way of checking on that. Blacky arrived 3 days later and we picked her up from a kennel. We then spent a few more days around Jakarta, giving her a few days to relax and recover.
The big day was there and we dropped her off at the counter in the airport. Make sure you read the airline requirements before, to know when you have to be there and what to bring. KLM has some good information on their website. We stuck to that.
I emailed the Munich airport vet a few days before the flight, before and sent him pictures of the health certificate and information about arrival times. They then informed the customs, that everything was in order. Checking Blacky into Germany was as easy as it could be. They looked at the papers and 2 minutes later, we were free to go

I hope this cleared up things a little for future Bali dogs, that might make it to Germany or elsewhere!!! Blacky is certainly happy and healthy and most of all....safe!